


Ghosts

by Cornerofmadness



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Coffee, F/M, Light Angst, The beginnings of Brightwell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:20:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23562937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cornerofmadness/pseuds/Cornerofmadness
Summary: Dani didn’t expect him to ask her out for drinks.
Relationships: Malcolm Bright & Dani Powell
Comments: 9
Kudos: 45
Collections: Bite Sized Bits of Fic from 2020





	Ghosts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cozy_coffee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cozy_coffee/gifts).



> **Disclaimer:** Not mine, , Chris Fedak and Sam Sklaver owns it
> 
> **Notes:** written for cozy_coffee for the prompt of Any, any, baby blue eyes. Set between _Death’s Door_ and _The Job_. Also written for the Get Your Words Out Yahtzee prompt of candles

Dani had asked Bright to accompany her to tell Sister Aurelia the bad news. JT was content to do the paperwork, and if there was one thing she could count on was Bright usually knew how to talk down excitable people. On the other hand, he had a habit of saying some really bizarre things, usually accurate but maybe things that shouldn’t be voiced. They were left waiting in the sacristy while the choir director ran to find the sister who had proven in the past to be excitable especially in her defense of her fellow nun, Sister Agnes who had been an early suspect. 

Next to the door sat a rack of candles. She was sure they had a name but Dani didn’t know it. Pay the price, light a candle, say your prayer. The smell of wax and smoke was rich in this small room. Dani watched the candles flicker, lost in that dance of light. She jumped when Bright touched her elbow.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly.

Dani shook herself, afraid of what showed on her face. Malcolm already had the ability to look behind the curtains of just about everyone he met. “Sorry, just thinking.”

He flashed those big blue eyes at her and Dani averted her gaze. She didn’t want him looking into her. She didn’t know why. He shared so freely with her, all the horrible things in his life. “You look sad,” he said after a moment.

She held up a hand in warning. “Don’t.”

He ducked his head, but he stopped.

“I was just thinking I hadn’t seen this many candles lit like this since my father’s funeral,” she said. She could trust him with that. He already knew that her father was gone but not much more. He didn’t need to know that, not yet. 

Malcolm nodded. “I am sorry. I don’t think I said that last time.”

“You were worried about your father,” she said, though she couldn’t imagine why. No, she understood that in spite of it all, Malcolm still loved his father as much as he hated him. She could almost see why. He’d been charming when she’d met him, playful even. If she hadn’t known what he was, she wouldn’t have guessed it. _And this is why you have trust issues_. “And your mother.”

“True,” he replied, shockingly terse. He wanted her to tell him more. That desire hid in every line of his face.

“Detectives?”

Grateful for the interruption, Dani turned to face Sister Aurelia. The middle-aged nun knew they couldn’t be there with good new though in a way, maybe they were. 

“Have you found who killed Sister Mary Margaret?” she asked, beckoning them to follow her. She didn’t wait to see if they were. She led them into the cathedral proper, stopping at the railing separating parishioners from the altar area. She stared up at the larger than life crucifix, crossing herself. 

Dani tried not to look, feeling somehow odd having that icon staring down at them. “We did.”

“It wasn’t Sister Agnes,” she said with conviction, her gaze going to Malcolm who had considered the sister briefly in the beginning.

“No, while she had done some …questionable things, it was someone from Sister Mary Margaret’s past,” Malcolm replied gently, and Sister Aurelia made a face. 

“It was her former fiancée,” Dani supplied, and the tension slipped out of Aurelia so quick and visible, she half expected to hear it clunk out onto the floor. “He confessed.”

Sister Aurelia sighed. “Sister Mary Margaret came here running from him originally before she decided to take the veil. I thank you for finding who killed her.”

“You’re welcome. We’re happy we were able to find answers,” Dani replied.

Sister Aurelia thanked them again, invited them to stay and hear the choir but let them escape when Dani claimed they had things to do. Vaguely guilty at lying to a nun, she tried to think of something to do so she wouldn’t be a liar. Malcolm paused on the steps leading away from the church, taking a deep breath in.

“Do we have to go back to the precinct just yet?”

Surprised by that – because she wasn’t sure there was any place he liked better – Dani turned to face him. “No. What do you have in mind?”

“Let’s get something to drink.”

Dani blinked. That was even more shocking. Was he asking her out? She wasn’t sure she was ready for that but part of her thrilled to it. It had been a while since anyone had asked, mostly because she kept people at arm’s length. Of course, that might not be what was happening here. It was hard to tell with Bright. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” She preferred not to drink most of the time. Alcohol hadn’t been her addiction but she didn’t like to push her luck with intoxicants.

“Coffee. We’re really close to one of my favorite places. I could use the caffeine.”

Coffee was safe. She could do that. “Sounds good.”

“We can leave the car in the church lot. It’s less than two blocks from here,” he suggested.

Dani followed him to a small coffee house called Ghosts and Grinds. She arched her eyebrows at him. “Ghosts?”

He shrugged. “All the art and what have you is paranormal investigative themed. But the coffee is prime. The baristas aren’t even allowed to do anything with the machines until they’ve been trained for two years.”

“Do the drinks have cutesy names?” she asked suspiciously. 

“No but there is a wide range to choose from. Just don’t laugh at my choices or telling people.”

“How weird is it going to be?”

“It won’t be weird at all.” He pouted at her, and right then Dani knew it was going to be weird.

The inside looked surprisingly comfy and a bit more crowded than she expected. Malcolm went to the counter but she couldn’t stop looking at all the photographic ‘evidence’ of hauntings. She wondered what about this interested Malcolm because it had to. This was something she hadn’t expected. Dani forced herself to focus on the menu. Malcolm gestured for her to order first.

“Uh, the spiced mocha sounds good,” she said and made it a large because if you were going to sin, might as well go for it. She’d never had a spiced mocha but she felt adventuresome. She must have been picking up on Malcolm’s crazy energy.

“The honey-lavender mocha,” he said almost sheepishly, and she smirked.

“Now I see what you didn’t want me telling JT.” She nudged him, and he went red to his ears.

“It’s really good.”

“You like things sweet. I’ve noticed that.”

She also noticed he paid for both, waving for her to put her money back. Dani normally wouldn’t let him but this was already a weird day . 

“They’ll bring us the drinks.” He looked around the shop and pointed to the only open spot a low, thickly padded couch under what looked like a picture of a full-bodied apparition in a house that bore an eerie resemblance to his mother’s home. Maybe this was the connection. “Looks like that’s all there is.”

Dani shrugged and settled in on the couch. He sat next to her. “So, ghosts?”

“I just think it’s an interesting topic and like I said, the coffee’s great.”

Dani studied him, not sure that was the whole story. “Do you believe in ghosts? I know Edrisa does. JT says he doesn’t.” She leaned close, grinning. “But he sure seems afraid of them.”

Malcolm chuckled. “I don’t know what I believe. If any place would be haunted, it would be my home.”

She frowned shaking her head. She knew his father had killed some of his victims there. Hell, Watkins had nearly killed Malcolm there. Malcolm was recently back from vacation, looking suspiciously pale for someone who had been in Tahiti. “Hard to argue that.”

“I guess if we believe in souls, ghosts shouldn’t be that hard to be believed in.” He shrugged. “Guess this case got me thinking about it.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to stir up any of your ghosts.”

“Or me yours.”

Dani cocked her head. “My ghosts?”

Malcolm sighed softly, shifting on the couch next to her. He looked at her with those brilliant blue eyes.

“Oh no you don’t,” she warned.

A puzzled expression crossed his face. “What?”

“No turning those big baby blues on me.”

He smiled faintly but didn’t turn those soul-searching orbs from her. “You know, you can tell me things. I get it if you don’t want to but I am willing to listen if you ever do.”

Dani took a deep breath, feeling shaken by that simple offer. “I’m not…I can’t, not yet.”

“The offer’s good any time, if you change your mind. You listen to my problems all the time, and I’m eternally grateful for that, but it can be a two-way street if you need it. Day or night because you know I don’t sleep.” He offered her a goofy grin, trying to break the tension.

It almost worked but then the barista arrived with two large cups big enough to sail boats in and he set them on the coffee table for them. She thanked him and studied their drinks. Hers had a big heart shaped into the foam. Bright’s had a flower and lavender blossoms dotted the surface. She stopped his hand reaching for it and took out her phone. He looked at her curiously as she snapped a picture.

“One of my girlfriends is forever sending me food pictures and asking why I never go anywhere fun to eat so she’s getting this in return,” she said in way of explanation. “And really? Yours has flowers on it.”

He thinned his lips, annoyed, and extravagantly rolled his eyes. He must have been schooled in how to non-verbally communicate his emotions along with deportment and whatever else rich people studied that people like hers didn’t. “It’s delicious. Taste it if you’d like.”

Dani shrugged and took him up on his offer. The sweet, floral tastes mingled with the coffee in perfect harmony on her tongue. “Okay, now I’m sad I didn’t get this.”

“Right?” 

She handed him his mug and took her own. Hers was rich and earthy with cloves, cinnamon and ginger, almost like a winter pie in liquid form. “But this doesn’t disappoint. So…seriously though, do you believe in ghosts, Bright?” Dani jabbed a finger overhead. “And is that Milton Manor’s resident ghost because it sure looks like your mother’s place.”

He sipped his honey lavender mocha, not answering her.

“I won’t tell JT…unless there’s a good chance of freaking him out.” She smirked.

Malcolm chuckled. “I think I do. And it’s Fox Oak Manor.”

“Excuse me?”

“Not Milton Manor, it’s called Fox Oak Manor.”

Dani blinked. “Are you serious? I was kidding.”

“I’m not. It was originally Milton in the Woods Hall but since the forest is long gone.” He shrugged. “It was changed to what used to be found in that area in the middle eighteen hundreds.”

Dani shook her head, not knowing what it must be like to know your extensive history. She barely knew her own grandparents, let alone her whole history back to the dawn of time. She doubted it would have been as good as the Miltons. “I’ve never known someone whose house had a name,” she said but Milton Manor couldn’t be called a house. It was much more than that. 

“And that’s probably Great Aunt so and so in the picture.” He grinned. “Even without my father’s input, there have been generations living in the home. Some might still be there. Remind me to invite JT and Tally next Halloween.”

“Only if you invite me.” Dani laughed.

“Oh of course you’ll be there.” His expression changed, sobering. “I’m glad you came with me for coffee.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t?” That stung a little but Dani knew he had his own trust issues.

“Most people go out of their way to not hang out with me,” he answered quietly.

She almost asked ‘and I don’t’ but did she really? She took him places when Gil asked her to but no, she hadn’t spent much of her free time with him. “To be fair, it’s the first time you asked me to go someplace.”

“Not true. I asked you to come with me to Claremont.”

She snorted. “That doesn’t count and it was also scary and weird.”

“That does describe my father accurately. Anyhow thanks for coming and for listening to me…all those other times.” A faint smile kissed his lips, and he snuggled back into the couch. “You’d think with the ghosts in my head I wouldn’t go looking for more.”

“I still say that theater that only shows horrors of your life is the worst idea for a theater ever.” Dani patted his hand. He flinched.

“Your hands are still cold! How can they be cold when you’re holding coffee?”

She shot him the evil eye, and then ran her fingers along his neck making him duck his chin and pull away, laughing. “Really? Still cold?”

“Yes!” He lightly shoved her and Dani ghosted her finger along his neck again. “Beginning to think you’re someone Edrisa reanimated in her morgue.”

Dani punched his arm. “Brat. You’re in a mood tonight….though if anyone was going to go full on Frankenstein it would be Edrisa. You know, she’d go with you for coffee if you wanted company.”

“Oh, I am aware. And here’s the thing, I like Edrisa as friend but…she doesn’t see the real me, if you get what I’m saying,” he replied, the sadness leaking into his voice.

“I do. She sees the idealized you.”

He nodded. “You on the other hand see the real me. You see my flaws. You call me on them when I’m out of line.” He shifted on the couch to look at her. “You are one of the only people to ever tell me that I’m not broken beyond repair and actually made me believe it just a little. My family is the only ones who do that.”

“And Gil…but he’s family, isn’t he?” Dani said, not liking the look in Bright’s eyes, that dimmed, hopeless look he got so often.

“Has been for years. He and Jackie were my second set of parents. So I owe you gratitude for being that kind of friend, Dani.” He covered her hand with his, leaning closer. “It deserves more than a cup of coffee. I’d like to do something to show my appreciation.”

Hyper aware of how close he was to her, Dani thought he was going to kiss her. Shocking her more, she wanted him to. Before either of them could act on the impulse a loud ghostly wail echoed in the shop and she jumped back.

“What the hell was that?”

“Someone ordered the daily special.” He chuckled, sitting back, the spell broken. “They always play that, sort of their rift on the bar bell chime they use some places. Anyhow, I meant what I said about being a willing listener if you need to talk.”

“Noted. And I’ll think about what you can do for me but you don’t have to do anything. I don’t listen to you expecting anything in return.”

“I know but I never get to do nice things for my friends.” He didn’t add ‘because I don’t have any’ but she knew he was thinking it.

“I have a question that has nothing to do with any of this,” she said, and he gestured with his coffee cup to allow her to change the topic. That’s when she realized he still had hold of her hand and she let him keep it. “How did you come back from Tahiti still as pale as someone Edrisa Franksteined to life?” She grinned.

“I spent the trip in my room reading.”

“You could have done that here!”

“My point entirely not that Mother or Gil were listening.” He sighed.

“I wouldn’t have wasted a trip to a tropical island.” Dani knew she was unlikely to ever get there but the point remained.

“You almost had the opportunity. I had to talk Mother out of it.”

Dani gave his hand a squeeze before pulling free so she could twist on the couch and look at him straight on. “What?”

“She thought I needed a handler.”

“I’m not going to argue that point but why me?”

“Mother likes you and she appreciates that you’re kind to me. I had to firmly insist we weren’t dating and it would have been….awkward.”

“Your father thinks we’re dating too,” Dani mused.

“Yes, he likes you too which isn’t helping my cause any I know.” He shrugged.

“I would have made you go to the beach,” Dani said.

He grinned. “Next time then.”

“Next time.” Dani glanced away, feeling somehow shy and not at all like herself because she could picture letting him sweep her away to some island. She had never looked for – or wanted- some prince to ride in and carry her off. Malcolm wasn’t a prince but he could have been had his father been anyone else. She turned back to him, feeling his gaze on her.

Bright smiled softly. “Maybe we should finish up and head back,” he said, letting her off the hook.

“Sure but first, tell me about Great Aunt So and So.” She pointed to the picture, oddly content to sit on the couch with him, listening to tales of life in Milton Manor and wondering ‘what if.’


End file.
